Washington, D.C., December 4, 2007 - The Voice of America's (VOA) Somali Service doubled its broadcasts this week to expand news coverage, feature programming and interactive segments. The additional programming will give Somalis from all walks of life enhanced opportunities to discuss and debate the future of their nation.

The new program, broadcast to the Horn of Africa region at 4:00pm local time (1300 UTC) is paired with VOA's Somali-language "Evening Edition" at 7:00pm (1600 UTC) that is also repeated at 8:00pm (1700 UTC) for FM partner stations throughout the region. In addition to news of Somalia and the world, background and analysis, each day will include different special features including "Ask the Doctor" and "What's On Your Mind," "Somalia in the World Press," and "Reporters' Roundtable."

VOA's Somali program can be heard on shortwave on 13580 khz on the 22 meter band and 15600 khz on the 19 meter band, as well as on the Internet at www.voasomali.com. VOA's Somali-language service, launched on February 12, 2007, is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of State.

The Voice of America, which first went on the air in 1942, is a multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. government through the Broadcasting Board of Governors. VOA broadcasts more than 1,000 hours of news, information, educational, and cultural programming every week to an estimated worldwide audience of more than 115 million people. Programs are produced in 45 languages.

For more information, call the Office of Public Affairs at (202) 203-4959, or e-mail publicaffairs@voa.gov.